Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State and thank her for taking this matter. Each week, I am contacted by the parent of a child awaiting a dental procedure or appointment. We know that, nationwide, waiting lists are starting to extend. Approximately 2,000 children have been waiting over four years for orthodontic treatment. I recognise that we now have an additional third level training facility in the new RCSI facility in Sandyford, which, when fully up and running, will produce an extra 75 graduate dentists in addition to those who are currently being trained in Trinity College and UCC.

I want to speak about alternative opportunities to increase the number of dentists in the country. Fifteen years ago, there were approximately 23% more dentists working with the HSE than there are today. While there were approximately 3,100 dentists registered and practising in 2019, and that figure has gone up to 3,888 in the last set of figures for private practice, we need to recruit more dentists into the system and the HSE.

One of the ideas in that area is that we allow dentists who have been trained overseas to work here. A lady who contacted me recently is a qualified dentist from Bolivia. She has an international qualification and worked there for many years as a dentist.She is currently working here as a dental nurse. She told me one of the difficulties she has encountered is that it is taking so long for her to be allowed sit the exam. She would like the opportunity to sit the exam but because it only takes place in an 18- to 24-month application window, she is not in a position to do that. If we are serious about getting to grips with the long waiting lists we currently have in the HSE for dental care we have to look at taking on more internationally trained, recognised and qualified dentists and allowing them to sit the exam here to ensure they are coming with the highest quality standards people expect and deserve. While the RCSI's new college took its first set of students back in September it will take five years before we see qualified dentists coming through from that, so this is a mechanism we have to look at. I would be grateful for an update from the Department on whether it is possible to speed up the length of time between those international qualification recognition tests.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this really important question. He raises a much broader issue in terms of the number of dentists we have working in Ireland. Unfortunately, I have been at the end of those calls to the constituency office too. There are so many parents out there super keen to get their kids looked at by the primary care services dentist and we do not have the numbers we need at the moment. I will give the Senator the answer from the Department so he is fully informed. I hope it can be shared with him in full as well.

The Dentists Act 1985 established the Dental Council as the regulatory body for the dental profession in Ireland. As such, issues concerning the registration of dentists are a matter for the Dental Council to consider. For all applicants for full registration, bar those granted international protection, the key criteria in determining their registration pathway is the country where the applicant undertook their dental education. There are a number of different registration pathways including those for Irish graduates and graduates from countries with which we have reciprocal agreements, graduates from the EEA who are entitled to automatic recognition or assessment under the professional qualifications directive, graduates from the UK and of course graduates from non-EEA countries.

In addition to this, the Dental Council introduced a registration pathway for refugees in response to the EU Commission’s request to assess the qualifications from refugees from the war in Ukraine. This pathway includes a mentorship programme whereby refugee dentists can practice under the mentorship of an established registered dentist. To avail of this registration pathway, you must be a qualified dentist with current temporary protection or refugee status in Ireland. The Dental Council has opened this process to any refugee granted international protection in Ireland. For applicants who qualified outside of the EEA and do not have refugee status or temporary protection in Ireland the appropriate pathway to registration is the Dental Council examination. This is a two-part exam that takes place annually. Part 1 of the exam typically take place in March or April each year and part 2 typically takes place in June or July. The specific dates of part 1 and part 2 of the examination will be confirmed as soon as possible with candidates who have been awarded a place. For the 2026 sitting of the Dental Council exam, applications can be received at any time during the week of 12 to 16 January 2026.

The Dental Council is not currently planning to introduce an additional registration pathway or to change the existing pathways for non-EEA qualification holders. It is important to note the Dental Council examination is an assessment of suitability for registration to practice dentistry in Ireland where applicants have already undertaken a dental qualification in a non-EEA country and it is not an examination at the end of a course of study. It is a broad-spectrum assessment of a candidate’s competence at a point in time to safely practice dentistry in Ireland. The standard of the examination is designed to maintain the integrity of the register of dentists in the best interests of patients. The involvement of representatives from each of the dental schools in the design, delivery and management of the examination maintains the direct linkage between the standards underpinning the examination and the standards expected of dental graduates in Ireland.

Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. It is important to recognise this is about ensuring people across the country have access to the best possible dental care. As I highlighted earlier, I have concerns we are not training sufficient numbers of dentists and we are not taking on, through the HSE, sufficient numbers of dentists. We have to look at all possible options for children in particular, 2,000 of whom are waiting over four years for dental care. We need to take an all-encompassing approach that prioritises recruitment and while we wait for the RCSI to get up and running, we should see whether we can take on more dentists who have qualified abroad, while ensuring the recognition examination is to the highest possible standard.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator and accept his proposal. We need the numbers, we need the practitioners and we have to diversify and look more broadly at how we can recruit and ensure that even when we recruit dentists from other countries we maintain a practice that is of the same standard as that of the pathways in education here. I will reflect the Senator's thoughts, views and suggestions to the Minister for Health following this debate.